I have a bad habit of cooking on the fly and not writing down what I am doing. In a lot of cases it’s because they are recipes I have made a few times. So after a ladies luncheon, my friends asked for a couple of the recipes. These are approximate proportions as I have never written these down.

These recipes are for large groups (what I made was served to 35 or 40 people), so you can adjust amounts down for smaller family sized meals.

Turkey Curry Salad with Tortellini

1 roasted Turkey breast (whole breast like you can buy in grocery store)
1 bag of frozen cheese tortellini (they are either 12 or 15 ounces – either is fine)
2/3 cup unsweetened coconut
3 Granny Smith apples
1 Meyer lemon
3 large stalks of celery chopped small
1 red onion
1/2 cup FRESH dill minced
1 cup Italian flat leaf parsley

Optional ingredients: 1 cup white raisins or 1 can of mandarin orange slices (the lower sugar kind), drained

Dressing for salad:
(Approximate because I have never measured):

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2/3 cup regular mayonnaise
1/3 cup low fat mayonnaise
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
3 teaspoons of curry powder
Dash of hot sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook tortellini according to package directions, drain and allow to cool.

Peel and chop apples and mix with the juice of the Meyer lemon and the zest of that lemon in a small bowl and set aside.

Chop up the turkey (with all skin removed after cooking) into bite sized pieces. Toss in large bowl with cooled tortellini. Wash your knife well (if using same one) and on a different cutting board, chop celery and parsley and dill and onion and add to bowl. Add coconut and either or both of the optional ingredients (raisins or mandarin orange slices). Add the apples and lemon juice and lemon zest and gently toss together.

In a separate bowl mix the dressing together with a whisk. Fold it into turkey salad and mix gently but well and cover and refrigerate. I make the night before I serve.

Tabouli

3 cups bulgar wheat
2 1/2 cups chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
1 1/2 cups chopped scallions
3 small to medium sized tomatoes seeded and chopped
1/2 cup of fresh mint chopped
1 cucumber peeled seeded and chopped
cumin, dried roasted coriander, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.
Lemon zest of 1 lemon
1 cup fresh lemon juice
5 tablespoons olive oil

Put bulgar wheat in a bowl with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, and garlic powder – salt about a teaspoon – everything else a few dashes. Pour over everything 3 cups of boiling water. Cover with Saran Wrap but stir here and there until water is absorbed and to make sure salt and spices are evenly dispersed. Fluff when water is completely absorbed and allow to cool COMPLETELY.

Whisk the lemon juice together with olive oil in a small bowl. Set aside.

Add veggies, mint and parsley to cooled bulgar wheat. Mix well and add lemon juice and olive oil mixture to everything and mix well. Add fresh cracked pepper to taste now. Finally, check seasoning and add more salt if needed and garlic powder.

Refrigerate for a couple of hours and serve.

Deviled eggs.

The secret is to the egg yolks and mayonnaise I add a couple of things to the yolk mixture besides salt and pepper. I add curry powder, Dijon mustard and a teaspoon of mustard powder, minced fresh dill and chives, and a couple of tablespoons of whipped cream cheese.